Financial Fitness and Yogurt Mountain

Mom and I made the trek to Birmingham to visit this weekend.  It was Ladies' Day at their church and the theme was "Spiritual, Physical, and Financial Fitness."  Trey was asked to speak about financial fitness.  He used to do several speaking engagements like this, but that was before we knew him.  I had total confidence in him, but wasn't really sure what to expect since I had never seen him speak in this capacity before.  Let me tell you- that it his gift!  He did so well!  I was very proud of my brother-in-law.  It's very obvious that leading people to financial freedom is his passion and through that, he is spreading the hope of
not only financial peace, but peace that comes through God alone.  Great job, bro!

Cort had been telling us about this place called Yogurt Mountain that she had fallen in love with.  Trey had falled suit and shared the love, so they took us there Friday night.  OH.MY.GOODNESS.  I hope that there's a Yogurt Mountain beside my cloud in heaven because it was fantastic!  It's self-serve yogurt, about 20 different kinds.  There's also about 50 different toppings to choose from, including Fruity Pebbles, Captain Crunch, chopped Pop-Tarts, any candybar you can think of, fruit, gummy bears, nuts, whoppers, etc etc etc.  You help yourself and pay by the ounce...45 cents each.  It does add up fast, but the price is very comparable to TCBY, which I loved.  It will definitely be a must on the to-do list from now on when I'm in town.

These pictures were taken with my phone so they aren't very clear, but you'll get the idea.

In Other News...

It's been a little while since I've blogged, but I've not had much to write home about lately.  Since I'm bored at home from school today (have lost my voice completely), I thought I'd post the latest randomness in my so-called life.

* The Bachelor-- OH MY GOODNESS.  I love this show and I would be lying if I said I wouldn't watch it again after the craziness of this season.  I'm pretty positive that I'll be the last standing viewer on earth, but I can still say that this season is a stretch.  These girls are insane.  I started hardcore the very first episode, listing those I liked, disliked, and those in the middle.  There certainly weren't many of the good list, I'll say that.  I love Tenley.  I always fall for the one with values and Christian background, regardless.  She seems to be the best fit for Jake.  I also started to love Corrie near the end.  When she shared her convictions and we got to know her more, she became a fave.  Plus, I found out she went to Auburn and now lives in Birmingham.  She's now my friend on facebook.  I'm sure we'll become BFFs. 

* American Idol- I miss Paula.  Can I just say that?  I never really liked her that much while she was on, but I guess the saying is true that you don't know what you have until it's gone???  These guest judges get on my nerves.  Avril and her devil ears?  COME ON, AI!  I'm sad Simon's leaving, also.  I wonder if the show will tank next season.

* Remember the CD that we recorded what seems like forever ago?  It's finally complete and is in the process of being mastered and copied.  It's taken waaaay longer than I thought it would, but hopefully we're really close.  I'm very anxious to hear how it sounds.  I think we've learned several things we'll do differently next time around, but it was lots of fun and an experience I will never forget. I love me some ToneRangers.

* I am still learning how to use my new camera (thanks, Haley) and Photoshop Elements.  I took pictures of a friend's baby a couple weeks ago.  It was the first time I didn't shoot on automatic and tried to adjust the settings myself.  I have a lot to learn about aperture and ISO, for sure.  I found a great professional lab online that will print professional quality prints just like a photographer.  They seem great so far and are really easy to work with.  It's called Diversified Lab if anyone is interested.   Here are a few shots.

HOLY MOLY!

I finally got my computer back this week!  I missed her tremendously.  I was having I-Tunes withdrawals and was so ready to get it back and start downloading music again.  I thought I would be able to at least re-download music I had recently purchased, but once I got on and tried, I couldn't get it to work.  I didn't think it would hurt to email I-Tunes and politely ask if I could get them back.  It's worth a try, right?  As I searched for ways to retreive music online, some people had success begging the powers to be so I decided to try it myself.  I emailed I-tunes yesterday and as of 10:00 am, received a reply.  It says, "I-Tunes typically allows one-time downloads, but we will be happy to help you out.  Click this, then this, and this, and you may re-download every song you've purchased on I-tunes."  Ummmmm, excuse me?  WHAT?  That's right!  Unbelievable!  It has taken my computer about four hours to download all my music back, but I got songs from a totally different computer that crashed before I got this one!  They were all purchased under the same account/user name, so I have them back! 

I'm once again on the I-Tunes bandwagon.  They've redeemed themselves a hundred fold for that little "no disc burning software" issue their program was giving me before.  Oh, I-Tunes, how I've missed thee!

Isn't there a magic pill?

I know it's not nice to say that I hate something, but there are just no other words to describe how I feel about diets.  I mean, it's the worst of hate- it's more like abhor, detest, despise, all of the above.  For some reason, I decided in August to document my weightloss on this blog.  I did it to hold myself accountable and if I can find a sane moment, I do agree that that was probably a smart thing to do.  But, I need help friends!  Thankfully, I have somehow still managed to maintain my 20 pound weightloss within two or three pounds, depending on the day.  However, the discipline and self-control I had before Christmas must have left with Santa on his sleigh because it is G-O-N-E! 

Christmas time is just hard for everyone, but especially for me since I was on a diet that I could only eat certain foods.  It was either don't eat at all, or eat what was served.  Whether it be school luncheons, parties, or a family Christmas meal, 99% of the time they didn't consist of foods that were allowed on my diet.  So, I told myself that I would treat myself a little bit since it was the holidays.  Now, it's just so hard to get back on the wagon.  I do so well throughout the day and only eat crap healthy stuff, but then at night I get all out of whack.  For example, this week Paige cooked dinner one night.  It was DELICIOUS, but not something I was supposed to have.  I could have sat at the table and watched everyone else eat, or do what I did and eat what she cooked.  This morning- plus two pounds.  And I only had one average sized serving!  (Paige, don't tell anyone about the rice crispie treat you forced me to eat, okay?)

Enough of the venting....bottom line- I need help!  How do I regain my momentum and lose the rest of the weight that I want to lose?  I was doing the right thing.  I think this diet is exactly right for me.  It helps maintain my blood sugar and my hypoglycemia, and it forces me to eat healthy foods.  (Insert me closing my eyes and taking a deep breath here.......................)  Okay, I'm going to do it.  I need to say all that to start again.  No more cheating.  From now on, if I have to sit around the table and watch other people eat, then so be it.  It won't taste as good as the way I'll feel when I look like I want to.  Prayers, PLEASE!

P.S.  If you're one of those girls that eats candy bars every day while I eat my Zone bars or drinks large McDonald's sweet teas when I help Splenda secure their great great great grandchildren's future- don't speak to me at all. 

A New Project

I'm always in the mood to try a new craft, and at Christmas time I had the idea to do this....

I have painted linolieum mats before, but recently decided I wanted to attempt to personalize them. I love the stick family graphics, so that's what I decided to use. I made one for some friends at Christmas, then just had an order for two more a couple weeks ago. Here is the final product.

Sunsets

My newfound love for photographing God's amazing wonders...

Computer Update (as if anyone cares)

I took my computer back to Best Buy and they had it for three days, running it through the diagnotic process.  When they called back, I was told that the heating element is corrupted, causing it to overheat, and the hard drive is going bad.  Excuse me, WHAT?  I took it in because it wouldn't burn a CD, now the entire laptop is about to crash???  Yes, that's right.  I should have figured it, seeing as how I have the absolute worst luck with electronics. 

The part that annoyed me the most is when I asked if they would put all my pictures and music on CDs before I lost my hard drive, their answer was sure...for $100.  Am I crazy, or should they not take care of that for me? They did, after all, sell me a product that isn't quite living up to its expectations.  It's the manufacturer's problem, NOT mine.  But no- no can do.  I had to go and pick up the computer, save my pictures to a flash drive, and now take it back.  It has to be shipped off for repair and I won't get it back for two weeks.  Perfect.